This invention relates to an apparatus for attaching and securing equipment to a surface. More particularly, this invention securely aligns and affixes an instrumentation console on the deck of a flying platform to prevent damage.
Scientific research and working applications requiring transport of sophisticated sensor instrumentation and electronics-package consoles frequently are mounted on moving platforms. These platforms can travel through the air or overland, or under or on water, and in the transportation process the platforms can be exposed to risks of damage. A damaged console can compromise its ability to function reliably, and different ways have evolved to secure each console.
Helicopters tend to create dynamic stresses because of on-board machinery, rotating blades, and their inherent flight characteristics. One mechanism for securing the consoles has a three dimensional framework securely connected to the package with supporting legs that hold the console at a level that can make it accessible to technician-operators. One side of the framework is securely connected to an inside surface of one side of the helicopter fuselage and the lower ends of the legs hopefully align with, fit into, and interlock in mounting fixtures located in the deck of the helicopter. The deck mounting fixtures are made as an integral part of the deck structure and are shaped to receive, mate, and interlock with the lower ends of the legs to securely engage the lower ends, framework, and console to the deck.
Practical experience has demonstrated, however, that the spatial arrangements of the lower ends of the framework and mounting fixtures in a deck may not always be the same. Consequently, the lower ends of the legs and the mounting fixtures may not align and interlock with each other because of discrepancies of manufacture, strains in the helicopter airframe/deck, bending damage to the framework, etc.
Misalignment will probably be discovered under stressful situations, such as during preparation for a mission for example. Crewmembers might hastily bend the framework legs to roughly fit and force the lower ends of the legs into the deck fixtures. These hasty attempts might break off the ends of the legs or fail to securely fit the bent ends to the deck fixtures. Thus, the console on the framework may not be secured, and as a result, it may not operate properly.
Thus, in accordance with this inventive concept, a need has been recognized in the state of the art for an adjustable adapter assembly for securely engaging an instrumentation console to a deck fixture on a moving platform and a plurality of adjustable adapter assemblies on a framework that can adjust to accommodate existing prelocated anchoring fixtures on the platform to assure secure engagement.